After some discussion of what is possible to accomplish in our time frame, we have decided on our final idea. We will be constructing a mobile interactive unit to display our research on our seven chosen invasive species. We are gearing the display towards children age six to twelve, but would also like it to be informative and entertaining for adults as well that may be accompanying the children. This mobile unit will hopefully be able to be brought to elementary schools, any city educational fairs, or to Science City. After visiting Science City and seeing the starting of their invasive species display, we learned that they were looking for something more interactive for their space and we thought our unit could be of some use for them as well.

The interactive unit will display information on each invasive species as well as a photo of each. To make this piece interactive we also want to add a representation of water and land, where we can have images of our invasive species and where they can be found (either in a tree, in the river, etc.) There will be a map of the world also on this display, and the idea is that the children can identify each invasive species by the information and picture given, locate it in the place it can be found, and move it to the location in the world it originated from.

We are still in the idea stage for the design of our prototype, but have a general idea of what we are aiming for in terms of design and functionality. Since we have a limited budget, we have decided to go out hunting for materials we can get a hold of for little to no cost. From the materials we gather, we hope to have a better idea of our design for our interactive unit. The first thing we are looking for is a cabinet/ set of drawers that we can build onto. We want to have drawers to open that are full of information and/or dioramas, a lid that opens and closes on the top of the unit which will display information as well.

We met with local artist Scott Hughes this week, who has had experience in creating informative displays. He was very informative on the things we must take into consideration and the ways and materials to do and/or make our display. We learned that we have much more work to do on our prototype as we are coming down to the last few weeks of class! Hopefully we can start to put things together in the week coming up!

Today our ‘out and about’ chair bomb was rescheduled for a meeting, that ended up falling through. But we used the extra time to get a lot of work done on our pieces.

Richard, Iris and Rita got the main structure for the mobile bus station miniature prototype finished. This included the transparent walls, mobile base and green roof (made of a grass plantation). The prototype is well on its way to being ready to showcase for the final class, with its research of course.

Above Rita and Iris make miniature models of what furniture inside the station will look like. These models are made from stacked recycled newspaper with an inner wire component for structure.

Mussa worked on another portable design but left us after lunch break to give the Greening team a hand in the trenches.

Nick struggled with his tire swing concept, but eventually made headway getting it together. Only one more tire needs to be added. The next step is to find a location to hang it from and calculate the amount of chain needed for that location. Then to go out and get the chain. If all goes well, the swing will be installed on Tuesday.

Nicole and Spencer worked on their respective couches. Nicole added finishing touches, more paper mache and enhanced the readability of the text by placing it on a white background. Spencer attached the legs and spray painted the logos onto his couch. All it needs now is a few crossbeams for added stability. A spray sealer proved not effective so both couches need to be finished with a varathane to withstand mother nature. Having this done by the weekend will allow us to get these pieces out on Tuesday.

Jude cut into her two shopping carts with some heavy duty bolt cutters, allowing the base structure of her chairs to take shape. Some bending, welding and a lot grinding sharp edges still needs to be done, but with no to little surface finishing needed these babies will be out in the wild by thursday.

On the still to do list, is organizing the legacy report, who’s writing what, and choreographing the documentation of Tuesdays and Thursdays installations/chair bombs.